Well, this sure beats killing time at an airport hotel. I’m sitting in a jacuzzi watching the sun burn orange through the trees. Birds are singing above; every so often a brown ibis screams.

You wouldn’t know it, but I’m in Johannesburg. The jacuzzi in question is situated in the lush gardens of Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa, and just a few kilometres beyond the trees and the property’s walls is the city’s main business district, Sandton.